One man's journey to financial independence.

Well, the markets are on a tear. This has helped my puts become more profitable. I continue selling puts against companies I want to own more of and using proceeds to purchase more shares of these companies.

Below are all my trades since July of last year:

Date

Action

Ticker

Expiration

Strike

Call/Put

Qty

Price

Net

close Price

closeout

Days to Exp

7/6/2017

Sell

MO

1/18/2019

90

Put

1

$19.00

$1,894.55

28.5

-$955.45

357

7/6/2017

Sell

MO

9/21/2018

75

Call

1

$5.15

$509.55

x

8/11/2017

BTC

MO

9/21/2018

75

Call

1

-$2.12

-$217.45

$292.10

x

7/6/2017

Sell

BDX

1/19/2018

210

Put

1

$18.00

$1,794.55

x

12/1/2017

BTC

BDX

1/19/2018

210

Put

1

-$1.38

-$143.45

$1,651.10

x

7/6/2017

Sell

MDT

6/15/2018

97.5

Put

1

$11.25

$1,119.55

11.25

-$5.45

140

7/6/2017

Sell

JNJ

6/15/2018

150

Put

1

$19.50

$1,944.55

9.05

$1,039.55

140

7/20/2017

Sell

V

6/15/2018

115

Put

1

$17.50

$1,744.55

2.82

$1,462.55

140

7/20/2017

Sell

V

1/18/2019

130

Put

1

$31.75

$3,169.55

12.65

$1,904.55

357

8/10/2017

Sell

ESV

1/18/2019

15

Put

2

$10.50

$2,094.55

8.24

$446.55

357

8/9/2017

Sell

Teva

1/18/2019

37.5

Put

1

$19.30

$1,924.55

x

1/18/2018

BTC

Teva

1/18/2019

37.5

Put

1

-$17.00

-$1,705.45

$219.10

x

8/9/2017

Sell

Teva

1/18/2019

30

Put

1

$12.20

$1,214.55

9.65

$249.55

357

8/10/2017

Bought

Teva

9/1/2017

17

Call

2

-$1.28

-$261.45

-$261.45

x

8/10/2017

Bought

Teva

9/15/2017

17.5

Call

5

-$1.37

-$690.45

x

9/12/2017

STC

Teva

9/15/2017

17.5

Call

5

$2.29

$1,139.55

2.29

$449.10

x

8/8/2017

Sell

GIS

1/18/2019

67.5

Put

1

$12.30

$1,224.55

11.2

$104.55

357

10/19/2017

Sell

GIS

1/18/2019

67.5

Put

1

$16.90

$1,684.55

11.2

$564.55

357

8/2/2017

Sell

MO

9/21/2018

80

Put

1

$17.50

$1,744.55

11.75

$569.55

238

9/7/2017

Sell

MO

1/18/2019

90

Put

1

$28.50

$2,844.55

28.5

-$5.45

357

10/17/2017

Sell

V

12/20/2019

160

Put

1

$52.52

$5,246.55

48

$446.55

693

10/25/2017

Sell

T

9/21/2018

40

Put

2

$7.30

$1,454.55

4.7

$514.55

238

10/26/2017

Sell

BBL

6/15/2018

35

Put

1

$2.55

$249.55

0.4

$209.55

140

10/30/2017

Sell

CVS

1/19/2018

80

Put

1

$11.90

$1,184.55

x

1/8/2018

BTC

CVS

1/19/2018

80

Put

1

-$2.40

-$245.45

$939.10

x

12/11/2017

Sell

CVS

1/18/2019

77.5

Put

1

$10.42

$1,036.55

5.41

$495.55

357

1/8/2018

Sell

CVS

5/18/2018

82.5

Put

1

$7.30

$724.55

4.45

$279.55

112

10/31/2017

Sell

OHI

6/15/2018

29

Put

1

$2.50

$244.55

x

12/18/2017

BTC

OHI

6/15/2018

29

Put

1

-$2.45

-$250.45

-$5.90

x

11/13/2017

Sell

HBI

1/18/2019

20

Put

1

$3.00

$294.55

1.45

$149.55

357

11/14/2017

Sell

WMT

3/16/2018

100

Put

1

$10.85

$1,079.55

4.95

$584.55

49

12/01/17

Sell

BDX

3/16/2018

230

Put

1

$10.93

$1,087.55

2.9

$797.55

49

12/01/17

Sell

Teva

1/18/2019

32.5

Put

3

$17.20

$5,154.55

12

$1,554.55

357

12/11/17

Sell

RDSB

7/20/2018

60

Call

1

$6.34

$628.55

12

-$571.45

175

12/15/17

Sell

PG

9/21/2018

92.5

Put

1

$5.20

$514.55

6.6

-$145.45

238

12/15/17

Sell

GE

9/21/2018

18

Put

3

$1.64

$486.55

2.55

-$278.45

238

12/15/17

Sell

CHD

7/20/2018

50

Call

1

$2.78

$272.55

3.2

-$47.45

175

12/28/17

Sell

SO

8/17/2018

48

Put

1

$2.75

$269.55

5.13

-$243.45

203

12/28/17

Sell

SO

1/18/2019

50

Put

1

$4.75

$469.55

7.7

-$300.45

357

01/08/18

Sell

WSM

8/17/2018

57.5

Put

1

$7.70

$764.55

7.3

$34.55

203

01/18/18

Sell

BGS

8/17/2018

30

Put

1

$2.50

$244.55

2.21

$23.55

203

1/18/18

Sell

BGS

8/17/2018

35

Call

1

$1.82

$176.55

0

$176.55

203

1/19

Sell

IBM

9/21/2018

170

Put

1

$15.65

$1,559.55

13.75

$184.55

238

1/23/18

Sell

OHI

1/18/2019

30

Call

5

$0.70

$344.55

0

$344.55

357

TOTALS

$46,022.20

$12,867.20

The last update on trades had generated $43,419 in revenues. I’m approved for “naked” options trading meaning I can sell puts on companies I don’t own and without having the cash to purchase said security. My collateral is owning shares of companies as equity to cover. This update shows I’ve now generated $46,022 in revenues. About $40,000 of that has already been used to purchase more dividend paying stocks. The closeout column is what my total profit will look like if I closed out all trades today. It’s up to over $12,000 from about $10k in the last update. The difference in the revenues and profits is what it would cost me to close out all the trades, about $33,000, same as last time. I’ve only got a couple of puts expiring in the next couple of months, WMT and BDX. Both are looking to expire worthless at this point meaning I would keep all the premiums(in this case over $2,000).

Note: These profits won’t include dividends which I do receive from investing in other dividend paying stocks with the revenue.

Since last month I’ve only made a few trades. A lot of this is due to the way E*Trade is now looking at maintenance requirements. I haven’t figured out their new formulas yet but I may look for another avenue to start options trading since it doesn’t seem consistent any more.

I purchased 100 shares of BGS and simultaneously sold a call and put. I also sold some OHI calls since I see shares depressed for a while. This extra income will be a nice boost. If shares are called away at $30 , I’d received $30.70 total which is higher than my basis so I’m ok with that. I also closed out a $37.50 Teva put while shares have been on a run, that cost me $1700 for a profit of $219.

My V puts continue to be rock solid. The stock just continues to go up no matter what. I believe shares will continue to beat the market for a while. This is why I’ve sold 3 large deep in the money puts for a nice revenue stream. I’d profit over $3500 from V if I closed the 3 puts I have outstanding. I’ll probably put these profits directly into buying more V shares. I don’t mind going overweight this wonderful company.

So what happens in the case that one of these companies is lower near expiration (in the money)? Well, I have a few options.

a. I can do nothing and I’ll be required to purchase 100 shares of said security at the strike price. It’s sort of like I’m buying the company right now at a discount.

b. I can decide to purchase back the put for more money at a loss of approximately (strike – current share value) x 100.

c. Third option is to “roll” the put forward. What this means is that I simultaneously purchase the put back and sell another longer dated put so that I haven’t lost any money.

Any profits will go directly into purchasing more shares of solid dividend-paying companies.

This is just another avenue I’m using to earn additional profits so that I can get this dividend snowball moving faster. I’m still targeting my next goal of $12,000 ($1,000 a month) in forward dividends by end March. My forward dividends are currently $11,197, up from $10,826 last month. I’ll need to put to work about $27,000 at a 3% yield in the next couple of months. With tax season coming up this might post a challenge but I love challenges. Wish me luck!

Well, the markets are on a tear. This has helped my puts become more profitable. I continue selling puts against companies I want to own more of and using proceeds to purchase more shares of these companies.

Below are all my trades since July of this year:

Date

Action

Ticker

Expiration

Strike

Call/Put

Qty

Price

Net

close Price

closeout

7/6/2017

Sell

MO

1/18/2019

90

Put

1

$19.00

$1,894.55

20.25

-$130.45

7/6/2017

Sell

MO

9/21/2018

75

Call

1

$5.15

$509.55

8/11/2017

BTC

MO

9/21/2018

75

Call

1

-$2.12

-$217.45

$292.10

7/6/2017

Sell

BDX

1/19/2018

210

Put

1

$18.00

$1,794.55

12/1/2017

BTC

BDX

1/19/2018

210

Put

1

-$1.38

-$143.45

$1,651.10

7/6/2017

Sell

MDT

6/15/2018

97.5

Put

1

$11.25

$1,119.55

11.25

-$5.45

7/6/2017

Sell

JNJ

6/15/2018

150

Put

1

$19.50

$1,944.55

10.6

$884.55

7/20/2017

Sell

V

6/15/2018

115

Put

1

$17.50

$1,744.55

6.8

$1,064.55

7/20/2017

Sell

V

1/18/2019

130

Put

1

$31.75

$3,169.55

19.25

$1,244.55

8/10/2017

Sell

ESV

1/18/2019

15

Put

2

$10.50

$2,094.55

9.81

$132.55

8/9/2017

Sell

Teva

1/18/2019

37.5

Put

1

$19.30

$1,924.55

19

$24.55

8/9/2017

Sell

Teva

1/18/2019

30

Put

1

$12.20

$1,214.55

11.8

$34.55

8/10/2017

Bought

Teva

9/1/2017

17

Call

2

-$1.28

-$261.45

-$261.45

8/10/2017

Bought

Teva

9/15/2017

17.5

Call

5

-$1.37

-$690.45

9/12/2017

STC

Teva

9/15/2017

17.5

Call

5

$2.29

$1,139.55

2.29

$449.10

8/8/2017

Sell

GIS

1/18/2019

67.5

Put

1

$12.30

$1,224.55

11.5

$74.55

10/19/2017

Sell

GIS

1/18/2019

67.5

Put

1

$16.90

$1,684.55

11.5

$534.55

8/2/2017

Sell

MO

9/21/2018

80

Put

1

$17.50

$1,744.55

10.6

$684.55

9/7/2017

Sell

MO

1/18/2019

90

Put

1

$28.50

$2,844.55

20.1

$834.55

10/17/2017

Sell

V

12/20/2019

160

Put

1

$52.52

$5,246.55

48.95

$351.55

10/25/2017

Sell

T

9/21/2018

40

Put

2

$7.30

$1,454.55

4.45

$564.55

10/26/2017

Sell

BBL

6/15/2018

35

Put

1

$2.55

$249.55

1.55

$94.55

10/30/2017

Sell

CVS

1/19/2018

80

Put

1

$11.90

$1,184.55

8.85

$299.55

12/11/2017

Sell

CVS

1/18/2019

77.5

Put

1

$10.42

$1,036.55

10.9

-$53.45

10/31/2017

Sell

OHI

6/15/2018

29

Put

1

$2.50

$244.55

12/18/2017

BTC

OHI

6/15/2018

29

Put

1

-$2.45

-$250.45

-$5.90

11/13/2017

Sell

HBI

1/18/2019

20

Put

1

$3.00

$294.55

2.1

$84.55

11/14/2017

Sell

WMT

3/16/2018

100

Put

1

$10.85

$1,079.55

4.95

$584.55

12/01/17

Sell

BDX

3/16/2018

230

Put

1

$10.93

$1,087.55

12.5

-$162.45

12/01/17

Sell

Teva

1/18/2019

32.5

Put

3

$17.20

$5,154.55

14.35

$849.55

12/11/17

Sell

RDSB

7/20/2018

60

Call

1

$6.34

$628.55

6.34

-$5.45

12/15/17

Sell

PG

9/21/2018

92.5

Put

1

$5.20

$514.55

5.2

-$5.45

12/15/17

Sell

GE

9/21/2018

18

Put

3

$1.64

$486.55

1.6

$6.55

12/15/17

Sell

CHD

7/20/2018

50

Call

1

$2.78

$272.55

2.85

-$12.45

TOTALS

$43,419.70

$10,098.70

The last update on trades had generated $26,390 in revenues. I’m approved for “naked” options trading meaning I can sell puts on companies I don’t own and without having the cash to purchase said security. My collateral is owning shares of companies to cover. This update shows I’ve now generated $43,419.70 in revenues. The closeout column is what my total profit will look like if I closed out all trades today. It’s up to over $10,000 from about $1,500 in the last update. The difference in the revenues and profits is what it would cost me to close out all the trades, about $33,000.

Note: These profits won’t include dividends which I do receive from investing in other dividend paying stocks with the revenue.

On 12/01, I closed out my BDX put for a profit of $1651.10. I think this is my single best put option to date. My MO puts are starting to look better than the last update. I still like Altria for the long-term and if I get assigned shares I’ll be ok with it. Teva shares are way up from the bottom and my puts are looking better also.

My V puts continue to rock & roll! V is a wonderful company and I believe shares will continue to beat the market for a while. This is why I’ve sold 3 large deep in the money puts for a nice revenue stream. I’d profit over $2500 from V if I closed the 3 puts I have outstanding. This is up from about $1500 in my last update.

So what happens in the case that one of these companies is lower near expiration (in the money)? Well, I have a few options.

a. I can do nothing and I’ll be required to purchase 100 shares of said security at the strike price. It’s sort of like I’m buying the company right now at a discount.

b. I can decide to purchase back the put for more money at a loss of approximately ($71/share – current share value) x 100.

c. Third option is to “roll” the put forward. What this means is that I simultaneously purchase the put back and sell another longer dated put so that I haven’t lost any money.

Any profits will go directly into purchasing more shares of solid dividend-paying companies.

This is just another avenue I’m using to earn additional profits so that I can get this dividend snowball moving faster. I’m still targeting my next goal of $12,000 ($1,000 a month) in forward dividends by March of 2018. My forward dividends are currently $10,826. I’ll need to put to work about $39,000 at a 3% yield in the next few months. With tax season coming up this might post a challenge but I love challenges. Wish me luck!

That’s right, I’ve made it past a huge milestone today of 10,000 in forward dividends. That means my portfolio will pay out over $10,000 in dividends over the next 12 months not counting any additional purchases or increases to dividends.

I had a trigger set up for AT&T when it hit a certain yield put that went off today. I decided to take advantage of weakness and purchased a full-sized position of 200 shares at a cost/share of 34.01. I see a lot of support at this area for AT&T and another .01 dividend increase should happen fairly soon. CFRA, formally S&P Capital IQ, has them rated as a buy with a 12-month target of $42. I see upside potential here and a nearly 6% dividend to boot. I’m happy parking some money here for a while.

Below is from my dividends tab. Now, I don’t post nearly as often as I used to about my trades, and I hope to change that, but I do keep my portfolio and dividend page updated in real-time. I use my google sheet to check my stock values all the time so these pages stay very updated. You can see in red the companies that have already increased their dividend this year with the purple highlights last year’s increase in that month.

You might also notice the dividend weight column. This is an interesting metric I like to look at as well. It might be concerning to some that nearly 30% of my dividend income comes from 3 stocks, MO, OHI and RDS-B. However, these 3 companies only make up 18% of the value of my portfolio. So you can see how the high/low yields can drastically change the dividend weight. For instance, V is currently a 5.79% weight in my portfolio for value but only 1.24% of the dividend weight due to the smaller yield.

How is everyone else doing? My next stop will be $1,000/mo in income or $12,000 year. I hope to hit that mark in the springtime.

I’ve decided to keep track of my options trading again and I’ve started this month with a bang. Yes, it’s a catchy title but please let me explain.

Below are the actual trades:

Date

Action

Ticker

Expiration

Strike

Call/Put

Qty

Price

Amount

Fees

Net

Days to Exp

Current Price

52wk range

7/6/2017

Sell

MO

9/21/2018

75

Call

1

$5.15

$514.96

$5.45

$509.51

558

$74.25

60.82 – 77.79

7/6/2017

Sell

MO

1/18/2019

90

Put

1

$19.00

$1,899.93

$5.45

$1,894.48

439

$74.25

60.82 – 77.79

7/6/2017

Sell

BDX

1/19/2018

210

Put

1

$18.00

$1,799.93

$5.45

$1,794.48

194

$197.79

161.29 – 197.85

7/6/2017

Sell

MDT

6/15/2018

97.5

Put

1

$11.25

$1,124.95

$5.45

$1,119.50

341

$87.96

69.35 – 89.72

7/6/2017

Sell

JNJ

6/15/2018

150

Put

1

$19.50

$1,949.93

$5.45

$1,944.48

341

$132.54

109.32 – 137.00

The total of these trades gave me a little over $7262 Net. I’m approved for “naked” options trading meaning I can sell puts on companies I don’t own and without having the cash to purchase said security. Now, I do have a covered call on MO since I own 100 shares and sold 1 call.

My put selling was 3 giant medical companies plus MO. These companies are not going anywhere and I don’t mind purchasing shares if needed. I’m basically asking mr. market to give me some assistance in sending their share prices higher. For instance, if shares of Johnson and Johnson are over the strike of 150 on 06/15/18 then the put will expire worthless and I’ll keep the entire $1,949.93 as profit. Let’s say JNJ is trading at 135 around expiration, about 15 off where I want it. That means the put is worth 15 x 100 or $1500 to buy back if I choose not to execute it.

Am I crazy you might ask? No, not entirely lol. So what happens in the case that one of these companies is lower near expiration? Well, I have a few options.

I can do nothing and I’ll be required to purchase 100 shares of said security at the strike price. It’s sort of like I’m buying the company right now at a discount. For instance, MO is at $74.25/share. I have to pay $90/share but I received a $19 premium or $1900 which is the same as if I purchased the company for $71/share. Now I would miss a couple of dividends but I’m still better off with the put.

I can decide to purchase back the put for more money at a loss of approximately ($71/share – current share value) x 100.

Third option is to “roll” the put forward. What this means is that I simultaneously purchase the put back and sell another longer dated put so that I haven’t lost any money. I’ll show you guys how this works around expiration if needed.

Well, here you are. My crazy put selling frenzy! I need medical companies to stay in favor and I’ll be a happy camper.

I used $800 in new capital and added $16.01/year to my dividend income. This is an average yield of 2.00%.

$50 per Week Challenge:

It’s been a while since I posted. I did make some smaller trades but I wasn’t able to complete the challenge due to some unexpected expenses.

Note:

UNP is still a fairly new position for me. I like the value here and Morningstar agrees with a 5-Star rating currently! UNP will be a good compliment to my railroad holdings in CSX and NSC. I plan to continue building UNP up to a full position.

V is a cash cow with no debt. It’s mostly about appreciation with this one but they do pay a dividend that has some major acceleration with the large raises.

DIS – I’m a little late to the game on this one. I’ve been adding some here and there and wouldn’t mind a full position at some point. I’ll keep dollar-cost-averaging into more shares.

Watchlist:

I really want to load up with RDS.B and BBL at these prices. I think they offer some major value but both companies are already full weights in my portfolio. I’ll continue to diversify a little out of energy and commodities though since prices may be depressed for a while and it’s not looking much better.

Update:

I owe a major update and I plan to get back on track beginning in the new year. After a divorce, I have one rental property and a new primary residence. I’ve also purchased a property and have applied to open up a restaurant/bar. That should happen in approximately two months. That’s where some of my money has been tied up lately.

I still plan for dividend growth investing to be a major part of my income along with real estate. I wanted to try my hands at something new and I’m excited to do so.

I think my New Year’s resolution will be to get my finances back and on track and start consistently investing. I plan to invest at least $800/week in my Sharebuilder account until it’s built back up to about $200k. It’s currently less than half that.

I still read a lot of blogs on feedly when I have a chance but I haven’t been able to post many comments. I hope that can change now that I’m setting down in a new place now.

Many of you have probably noticed a big slow-down in the amount of posts I’ve had lately. I’m actually way behind several I had planned to write. Well, I’ve had a lot going on in both work and in my personal life. Therefore, I’ve decided to take a break from this blog for a while.

Don’t worry, I’ll be back at some point. In the meantime, I’ll continue investing and try to at least keep my portfolio updated.

I appreciate everyone that has been following me along on this journey. I still have a long ways to go and I’ll be back at some point I assure you.

Until then, I’ll still be reading a lot of your blogs but won’t be too active here. So good luck in your investing endeavors and I hope everyone exceeds their 2015 goals.

Jumping into real estate investments without proper preparation can lead to regret and financial loss.It’s sometimes best to list poor investment properties on the market and cash-out before unrewarding endeavors worsen. However, the real estate market is continuously fluctuating, which means investors can actually lose money if they don’t time their resale appropriately. Properties may be valued higher or lower than their initial purchase price, after assessingdepreciation, physical modernizations and market standards.

Rather than face potential monetary losses on unwanted investment properties, use these four measures to determine the best time to sell.

1.Competition of Rental Market

Rental building owners, like all property owners, can fall underwater on their mortgages. Negative equity occurs when market value descends and homeownersor investors owe more on their mortgages than their properties are worth. Usually, financially stable landlords remain patient until the market picks up again, especially with cash-flow positive properties.Individuals who have enough in the bank to continue paying their mortgages without regular rental incomes might also consider deferring resale.

After all, local markets can shift rapidly. More than 26 percent of all landowners in Orlando, for example, are currently underwater on their mortgages. At the same time, rental listings in Orlando increased in price by over $100 in the past year, according to Zillow’s Rental Index. With such a strong national and local rental market, investors in many major metros might regain equitable control on their properties in the near future – making postponing selling a practical choice.

Business Cash-Flow Trends

The primary purpose of investing in property is to profit. Usually, seasoned investors analyze the cash-flow potential prior to procuring properties. Inexpensive buildings, while easier to acquire,involve time and work to generate enough money to fund mortgages and other investment-related expenses, such as maintenance fees, employee salaries and property management software subscriptions. Landlords losing money well after the first six months, especially by $1,000 or more, should seriously consider cutting their properties loose. With such large expenditures, they won’t breakeven for many years.

Property Condition and Estimated Repair Costs

While properties absorbing cash aren’t ideal, they have the potential to turn around – especially in today’s hot rental market with strong tenant competition. Patient owners who make property upgrades can reap profitable income in the future. However, if properties are dilapidated beyond repair or require large-scale improvements that investors can’t fund, then it’s time to list and absorb the loss as a learning experience.

Commitment and Availability for Management

Individuals who acquire rental properties as passive investment opportunities assume sole responsibility for their properties. Many landlords fail after erroneously assuming they can run their properties without management experience while maintaining full-time careers.Investors can skirt the responsibility of management by co-investing or looking into buy-and-hold strategieswhere they can provide investment capital without screening tenants, marketing vacant units or hiring contracting professionals. However, lack of control creates risk, which is why extensive due diligence to avoid scams is absolutely necessary.

Personal commitments don’t always translate into fruitful side ventures. Property investors with diverse portfolios might consider selling one to two of their properties, especially when cash-flownegative, as long as the aforementioned specifics don’t hinder resale.

As a dividend growth investor, I don’t typically buy a lot of gold and silver. I do hold a small amount of physical bullion and have bought a couple miner stocks in the past with mixed results. Physical bullion doesn’t appeal to normal DG investors as it doesn’t pay a dividend. It’s always worth the same amount, inflation adjusted.

Below is a guest post with an interesting concept that may be of interest to some of my readers.

Gold Resource Corporation launched its gold and silver dividend program on April 2012. The company’s default dividend is still in fiat currency, but it offers their investors the option to convert their cash to physical gold and/or silver coins called “GRC Double Eagles.” The GRC Double Eagles are one ounce of .999 fine gold coin, and .999 fine silver round.

“A convenient and simple way of delivering precious metal dividends to shareholders has been a long-term goal of the Company,” stated Jason Reid, the President of Gold Resource Corporation.

Gold Resource Corporation is in partnership with Gold Bullion International (GBI) – an institution that provides precious metals. GBI is the organization that manages the conversion of cash dividends to GRC Double Eagles.

The partnership of Gold Resource Corporation and GBI allows investors to have complete control over their cash dividend conversions. Stockholders can either convert their dividends to gold, silver, or just a percentage of their choice for each precious metal. Investors who decide to convert their dividends to physical metal can store their GRC Double Eagles to GBI’s very own storage facility. They may also have their GRC Double Eagles shipped to an address, or request the precious metals to be stored to a vault of their choice.

Interest over the precious metals market have spiked over the last few months due to political unrest in the Middle East and Ukraine. Gold is often used by investors as hedge to inflation or if there’s a looming event that could significantly affect the market. Just a few days ago, BullionVault reported that gold hit a one-week high due to news agencies saying that Russian Troops were fighting with pro-separatists in Easter Ukraine. Events like this will always be unexpected, so precious metals experts advise investors to always consider gold’s value. Gold Resource Corporation’s dividend program is a good option for investors who still haven’t diversified their portfolio yet with gold.

So if anyone read my latest solar electric bill report, you may have remembered that I found something new to save money. When I installed my solar system, I had an electricity monitoring system also put in. I’m able to monitor my electric usage in real-time. I can walk around the house and flip lights on/off while looking at my monitor on my phone and see instant changes. This monitor opened up my eyes to a lot of wasted electric use. I also had no idea how much energy my pool was using until I got this monitor.

My old pool pump was running at 1500 Watts for 12 hours, plus 4 hours where I ran my Polaris pool sweep. Those 4 hours were using an additional 160o Watts of electricity per hour. That’s 18,000 Watts plus another 6,400 Watts for the Polaris for a total of 20,800 Watts or 20.8 KWh each day! Besides in the summer when I use the A/C much more, my pool pump was contributing 50% of my electricity usage or more.

My new Hayward SP3400VSP EcoStar VS Variable-Speed Pool Pump Energy Star Certified that I purchased from Amazon uses only 100 Watts, as much as a 100 Watt lightbulb on low speed (1000 rpm’s). The pool is now running at low speed for 18 hours per day and at a higher speed during the day for 6 hours. That 18 hours at 100 Watts uses only 1,800 or 1.8KW each day. During the 6 hours of higher speeds (currently 2400 rpm’s) , my electric monitor shows usage of 750 Watts. That’s 4,500 watts total. I am now running my Polaris pool cleaner for only 3 hours since I’m recycling so much more water. That uses another 1200 watts per hour. So that’s a total of 1,800 + 4,500 + 3,600 = 9,900 watts. That’s less than half of the previous usage and I’m probably turning the water over in my pool faster since the piping is larger and it’s running 24/7 thus keeping it cleaner.

That’s a savings currently of 10,900 watts per day or 10.9 kw. 10.9 x 30 days = 327 Kwh. My tiered electric plan would put the cost of this at $0.14 per Kwh so my savings is roughly 348 x $0.14 = $45.78 per month or $549.36 per year. I still plan on fine tuning the speeds and amount of time on each speed. I’m also planning on shortening the time the pump is on when there is cooler weather. I am anticipating savings of up to $720 in my first year. This doesn’t even include savings of using less chemicals because the water stays clearer longer. I can have up to 4 different speeds and multiple changes throughout the day. I’m currently only running two. I’ll be looking for the more energy efficient settings so that my pool stays clear. I have a feeling I can get my savings eventually closer to $60/month.

This was the original graph of my usage (the green is my solar panel production for a sunny day). You can see the pool pump kicked on at 8:30 AM and ran until 8:30 PM. The sharp up and down movements on the graph are my A/C coming on and back off. You can see at 12:30 pm , my polaris kicked on and ran until around 4:30 pm.

This is a new graph after my pump was installed. I don’t even notice the pump running on low speed 24/7 though, the lowest line of usage stays roughly the same around 1kW. You can see when the pump kicks on higher speed though around 10:00 am and then runs until 4:00. The Polaris kicks on around noon and runs until 3:00 pm. If you look at the energy usage when my pump kicks on now versus the old, you’ll see about an 750W difference. This is the beauty of this monitor, I can see in real-time my actual usage. I know that I’m saving money and my bills should start reflecting it.

The best part is that I paid $868 for the pump, plus $160 for installation. I get a $300 rebate from the city and should have that check back any day now. The total cost of this new pump was $728! I can pay for this pump with just one year of usage! This is a much better payback than even the solar system I bought, that takes about 7 years. I just wish I had known this sooner.

I posted back on December 30, 2013 that I picked up an initial position of 100 shares of ESV. You can find that post here.

I also took notice of Helmerich & Payne (HP) during my most recent January CCC 10-year YOC Rankings. HP wasn’t on my radar before because its dividend was too low for me to notice. Now a Dividend Champion with a 42 year streak of increasing dividends is paying a yield of over 2%. Now this isn’t huge but their recent growth is where the attraction is.

Let’s First take a look at ESV.

Ensco plc (Ensco) is a provider of offshore contract drilling services to the international oil and gas industry. As of December 31, 2011, the Company owned and operated an offshore drilling rig fleet of 77 rigs, including rigs under construction. As of December 31, 2011, its rig fleet included seven drillships, 13 dynamically positioned semisubmersible rigs, seven moored semisubmersible rigs, 49 jackup rigs and one barge rig. Its customers include national and international oil companies. On May 31, 2011, the Company completed a merger transaction (the Merger) with Pride International, Inc., (Pride), ENSCO International Incorporated, an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary and predecessor of Ensco plc (Ensco Delaware), and ENSCO Ventures LLC, an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Ensco plc (Merger Sub). Pursuant to the Agreement and Plan of Merger, Merger Sub merged with and into Pride, with Pride as the surviving entity and an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Ensco plc.

ESV’s sole focus is offshore drilling. Ensco provides offshore drilling services as deepwater, midwater and premium jackup services. They have the largest premium jackup drilling fleet in the world holding the most 400′ rigs of any fleet. Part of the reason I like ESV is for their estimated future EPS growth. Also ESV has increased their dividend dramatically in the last year. ESV is rated #1 in customer satisfaction for three consecutive years. They have a Baa1/BBB+ rating from Moddy’s/S&P. ESV also has a younger fleet age and good international exposure.

See the slides below from the Dec. 5th presentation at the Wells Fargo Conference:

Now let’s look at HP:

Helmerich & Payne, Inc. is engaged in contract drilling of oil and gases wells for others and this business. The Company’s contract drilling business is composed of three reportable business segments: U.S. Land, Offshore and International Land. During the fiscal year ended September 30, 2012 (fiscal 2012), the Company’s U.S. Land operations drilled in Oklahoma, California, Texas, Wyoming, Colorado, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Utah, Arkansas, New Mexico, Montana, North Dakota and West Virginia. Offshore operations were conducted in the Gulf of Mexico, and offshore of California, Trinidad and Equatorial Guinea. During fiscal 2012, the Company’s International Land segment operated in six international locations: Ecuador, Colombia, Argentina, Tunisia, Bahrain and United Arab Emirates. The Company is also engaged in the ownership, development and operation of commercial real estate and the research and development of rotary steerable technology.

Here’s a look at HP’s fleet mix from their 01/08/14 presentation at the Global Energy Conference:

As you can see, HP’s primary focus is on U.S. land rigs.

Here’s a different look at HP’s global rig fleet growth:

Here’s a couple of bonus FAST Graphs to compare also:

Here’s a look at recent dividends paid by both ESV and HP:

Notice that I highlighted in green the increases. Both companies have had some dramatic dividend increases lately. This is most surprising with HP since they have been increasing their dividend for 42 straight years!

HP wasn’t even on my radar until recently when they increased their dividend to .50 and then to .75 payable in the first quarter of 2014.

Here’s what the growth of $10,000 would have looked like over the last 5 years. HP beat the S&P 500, ESV and the Oil & Gas Drilling industry average.

Finally here’s some of their metrics I’ve taken from Morningstar/E*Trade/S&P Capital IQ

With HP sitting near their 52-week high, I’m inclined to add to my ESV position. I’m also more interested in the international exposure and future EPS growth.

Disclosure: Long ESV and I added another 100 shares after the article.

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Disclaimer

I am not a licensed financial professional. I created this site to be informative and entertaining. No purchases I make are recommendations to buy those particular equities. I'm not liable by any party for losses you might incur. All investments are subject to losing money and you should consult a financial professional before making any investment decisions.